Session # :____ Student’s name: __________ Date: _________
|
The setting is at Open Sky Community Premises as at the moment; it was not possible to undertake the session at C.B.’s home (even though it was a consideration during the initial planning) through a home visit due to the current situation of limited movements and personal preference resulting from COVID-19. The setting at the office has four chairs arranged in a circle manner but well distant apart, like 3 meters apart, with face issues on a table in the center. There is a table on the corner with some books, files and a laptop with a chair next to it. The rooms some plant pots in two corners, and the lighting is just perfect for the morning as the session starts at 10 am in morning. The participants include the client (CB), a 35-year-old single mother with two sons aged seven and five. She divorced from her partner and decided to raise the children by herself after acquiring custody. She has been working at a local hotel for the last one and a half years and managed to take care of all her needs and those of her children. She has family and friends who are ready to help, but she feels she has asked for too much help and has gradually become a burden for everyone. She presents depression as the leading cause because of her income source and the clinician of Open Sky Community (the clinician or student in this case). Purpose: To address concerns about C.B.’s mental and emotional state, guide her in her issue at the center, help her cope and overcome her severe mental health issue of depression and physical/emotional well-being by deliberating with her on the best way she can be well to cater for her two children well. Observation: C.B. was affected by her job loss due to the current COBVID-19 pandemic and initially had been making ends meet for her two children. Now she is finding it difficult to cope with having to borrow from family and friends, making her feel like she is a burden. C.B. looks relaxed and organized during this session as she enters the room and shows average enthusiasm and energy for the work ahead. She no longer feels like seeking financial and emotional help from friends and family has been supportive to her since she divorced as she thinks it’s too much and right now wants a source of income to fend for her family again. She seems to have a positive attitude and slightly happier than when she came for a session. |
Student Learning Goals
|
To understand the steps C.B took since our last session in attempting to help resolve her depression issue and help her overcome the feelings of feeling like a burden to her friends and family. To determine the consistency of C.B in following the programs and steps, we agreed by promoting her decision-making process in job searching current upkeep and her ability to cope. |
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Recording of Interview
| Student-Client Interaction Dialogue | Self-Reflection/ Rationale for Intervention | Supervisor’s Observations |
|
Clinician: Hi, nice to see you today. Client: Hi, feels great to be here too. Clinician: How have you been since we last spoke? How have you been generally? Client: I can't complain, it was a mix of good moments and dull times, but I expected. Clinician: Tell me more, and how are the children? Client: The children are doing well but seem to be noticing something is wrong with me. (sighs) in one of my moments when I was feeling down, my eldest son P.K came to me and asked me why I look sad and if they (my younger son and him) had wronged me. It got me by surprise as I don't want them to have the pressure to deal with such issues. Clinician: Well, and how did you respond to PK, your son? (Smiles) Client: I told him they had done nothing wrong, that I love them very much, and they are the whole world to me. I told him that due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, I was thinking of the best way to care for them, and he was like, he understands, and said everything would be alright. (Chuckles). Clinician: So, tell me in the past week or so, how often have you felt down or hopeless? Client: close to more than half of the days, sometimes I feel like I overthink. It's like my mind has a list of my friends and family, and I try to revisit in my memory how they have been responding to me whenever I reached out for emotional and other support. Some come with good memories, while others make me feel bad. Clinician: How do you handle the bad memories? Client: I feel I deserve it and don't hold it against them, but I try to focus on the positive memories that give me strength. Clinician: That is good; how is your sleep lately? Client: My sleep has reduced by considerable amounts, say 1-3 hours than before. Clinician: How are your energy levels when it comes to doing your daily chores? Client: I could say it's less than before but getting better since I started going out more and meeting with friends. Clinician: So how has it been looking for a job and thinking about your income's next source? Client: It's promising; in the past two weeks since I left here, I was lucky to run into an old friend with whom we spoke at length and promised they would get back to me if they found some job for me. ( Lights up ) the friend even gave me cash that can cater to my bills for a whole month. I almost refused it thinking of how the friend will perceive me, but I remembered our earlier conversation and gladly received the cash. For once, I felt not being a burden to them as they had offered to without me asking for it. Clinician: I am glad to hear that. Client: I also attended two interviews for jobs I had applied for earlier and look forward to getting an offer for at least one of them. Clinician: I must say this is remarkable progress. I am happy and impressed by your positive attitude. |
The client is smart and was able to recall their resolutions from the previous session. The interview went well than the last session as I understood the client more than it was before., Additionally, I have significantly improved our working relationships by keeping in touch with the client objectively to help her come out of depression. I did well in communication areas, asking specific questions to gauge the client's progress in terms of the degree of depression and her implementation of the right steps that will help her overcome. I also managed to refrain by giving the client my decision on her issues but instead let her think through, understand them, and I helped her in coming up with the best solution for her problem that will help not only resolve the current depression issue but also help her overcome similar situations in future. In terms of interviewing skills, I communicated well nonverbally by ensuring my body language and non-verbal cues communicate the right message. Also, knowing my abilities helped me to ask the questions in the simplest yet objective way. I was able to help C.B. consider her situation in a convincing manner. However, I need to work on my thinking aloud so that whenever I am in a session with a client, I do not interrupt them as they speak. I efficiently and effectively monitored previously planned interventions and saw that C.B. was following up to reduce her self-blame for having to depend on family and friends. In terms of self-awareness, the client knows herself better and, as a single mother, can now feel more consider in seeking help from the right people in the future, which is excellent progress. I understand that C.B is a religious person and identifies with the Christian faith and thus has no problem when she refers to such related explores or illustrations. I additionally leverage that when integrating theory in the sessions. The reasons for asking C.B. questions such as her energy levels, sleep patterns, and progress and the frequency at which she feels low is premised on the Aaron Beck's cognitive theory and Martin Seligman theory of learned helplessness as these trends can help show the degree of depression or coping with it. The method used in assisting C.B. to overcome her depression is rooted in the foundational principles and guidelines of interpersonal therapy (IPT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), both of which are proven to help understand and resolving depression. |
The session was well structured. The setting was well organized. The questions are well thought organized and even adjusted as the client responds along. The focus is on the client, which a good thing as it serves the primary purpose of the session. |
Impressions
| Overall, I handled the interview well and asked more objective questions that can quickly help gauge how C.B is progressing in managing depression. I am well impressed with how I could frame the questions and prompt her to speak more than myself, as it helped me understand her situation more and her coping mechanisms. I think the client is progressing reasonably well. Her positive attitude is an indicator she could recover faster than we thought and that she will handle difficult situations better. The fact that the client could come to the session on time and maintained her honesty in how she progressed indicates high chances of her recovery than if it would be otherwise. The client is progressing well except for a few relapses in which she finds herself thinking about her negative life experiences. Once she overcomes the feelings of self-blame and gets a source of income such as a job or a functional business of her own, she will overcome her depression faster. Additionally, her going out is a step which I had guided her to decide in the last session, is producing good results with C.B happier and with more energy than before. I understand my role in helping C.B overcome depression and live a more fulfilling life more clearly than before. I know that I am not to offer her immediate solutions but to direct and guide her into finding evidence-based solutions that apply to her. |
Plan
| In future sessions, I intend to handle maybe one or two aspects of the C.B‘s issues at a time. For instance, I plan to follow up on her progress with self-blame and feeling and on depending on friends and family and probably let her progress with depressions come after that into the subsequent session. |
Questions for Supervision
|
What could I be missing about the client’s situation? What other questions can I ask C.B to help determine more about her depression and help her resolve it? Is it okay to refer the client (C.B) to specific firms for jobs? Can I connect her to employers I know will likely get her a job? Will it be okay to start a crowdfund for her and help her raise cash from well-wishers to start a business or for upkeep? |
Reflection on Policy, Research or Social Identity
| Open Sky Community services serve all kinds of people without discrimination regardless of their age or gender in helping them overcome their mental and developmental challenges. However, also the agency aims at helping the most vulnerable group of the community, which poses the question of whether the focus should be on helping the vulnerable clients first or just serving people on a first-come, first-serve basis. Some of the ethical dilemmas that arise include how to get informed consent when asking about some personal questions, maintain confidentiality even when speaking out could help C.B come out of depression faster or get a job, and the possibility of the therapeutic misconception that could lead to wrong diagnosis and solution. |
